Welcome to Metaluna, a digital memorial to the
rockaholiterary genius of the one and only Joe
Fernbacher.
Although he was a colleague and contemporary of
the leading lights of the golden age of rock criticism,
writers such as Lester Bangs, Richard Meltzer, Billy
Altman, Peter Laughner, et al; Joe’s name and his
writing has since fallen into obscurity, undeservedly
so. Metaluna exists to correct this situation, so
that fans and scholars of the genre can reacquaint
themselves with one of the greats.
While his work appeared everywhere from Rolling
Stone to Shakin’ Street Gazette (premier fanzine
of his hometown of Buffalo, NY), Joe is remembered
most vividly for his work in Creem. A protege of
Lester Bangs, he was one of the team of writers left
with the unenviable job of filling the void left by
Lester’s departure in early 1977. As often as not, Joe
was leader of the pack.
He was, perhaps, the greatest stylist of Creem’s
declining years. By turns insightful, hilarious,
lurid, florid, lucid, gonzo, penetrating, literary,
(meta)lunatic and mercilessly unpredictable, Joe’s
reviews enlivened Creem from the mid-70s until
it ceased publication in 1988. At this point he found
himself unable to secure a comparable niche
elsewhere; rather than compromise his talents he
chose to turn them inward. His final decade was
spent quietly; he passed away in June of 1999, after
a long illness.
As this site evolves we hope to present some of the
prose and poetry Joe created in retirement. For now,
we begin with a selection of his work for Creem.
[ N.B.: Creem, unlike Joe, has returned from
retirement. Boy Howdy is back. Go here for the
particulars--after you’ve bookmarked this page, of course. ]
of you since 31 Oct 1999
Questions? Comments? Contributions? homber@hotmail.com